Camp Sync
by jayfeather12345
Summary: It's Dawn's third year at Camp Sync and she's hoping for a free, easy Summer - but with old friendships breaking up, new ones being made and someone special stealing her heart not a single day is drama-free. But who is stealing everyone's most personal possessions? Is their motive one of revenge or are there darker forces at work here? Dawn has six weeks to make everything right...
1. Troublesome

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokemon, One Life (by Boyce Avenue) or Be My Escape (by Reliant K).

Welcome to my new story! This chapter pretty much focuses on Dawn, but all four shippings (DawnXPaul, MistyXAsh, MayXDrew and LeafXGary) are included.

Oh, and if you listen to the songs when they come up in the story it helps a lot with the atmosphere! (Just to warn you, Dawn sings One Life. I know Boyce Avenue is a male singer but just imagine a female singer is singing it, okay?)

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter One**

**~ Troublesome ~**

Dawn took a deep breath as she stared at herself in the mirror. Her make-up was done perfectly, with light silver eye shadow, pink lip gloss, black mascara, some eyeliner, and some silver glitter trailing down her cheeks. Her dress was a pretty pale pink with a sparkling silver girdling waist, a sweetheart neckline and without sleeves or straps. The dress ruched out from her waist and reached down to the floor. Around her neck was a pretty silver necklace and matching silver earrings dangled from her ears. Her hair was curled and cascaded down her back.

"Dawn? It's almost time," a stagehand called, knocking on the door of her dressing room. Dawn drew in a deep breath. This was her third time running opening the show, but she still couldn't get rid of the nerves.

"I'll be right there," Dawn called back. She glanced once at her favourite hairbrush – a shiny silver one that glittered just like her dress -, forced a smile onto her face and turned around, walking forward in sparkling silver kitten heels. Opening her newly painted pink dressing room door she made her way backstage, being careful not to trip over anything in the darkness.

"Welcome to Camp Sync, where old friendships are strengthened and new friendships that last a lifetime are forged; whether you're new or returning for another year, it's great to see you all! As you all know, this is a camp for fifteen to eighteen year olds, so we've separated you all into your year groups for sleeping arrangements and activities but mealtimes will be held all together as will the campfires. All the information about activities, weekly shows and such are in your information booklets so I don't want to bore you with too many details..." the camp's director, who also happened to be Dawn's Uncle, was speaking to the crowd onstage. Dawn could hear his voice drifting back to her as she waited in the shadows, nervously playing with a strand of her hair.

Dawn could almost recite his speech off by heart. Sometimes mouthing the words as he said them helped to calm her nerves, but this time it felt different. Something she couldn't put her finger on was making her jittery.

"And now, to open the start of this year's camp, give it up for Dawn Berlitz, twice winner of the Camp Sync Trophy!"

Dawn grabbed her sparkly silver microphone off of the box it was resting on and made her way out onto the stage, which was a semicircle under a roof in the middle of all the backstage props and dressing rooms and everything else, but there was also a catwalk attached that was the length of the audience's seats.

The moment Dawn stepped out from behind the curtain, she looked out over the audience and felt her heart leap with nerves, but it was joined with excitement as she heard the music begin to play. Her Uncle had already left the stage, so she glided forwards to take centre stage. Then, she opened her mouth and began to sing.

_"__You lie awake while the world's asleep,  
You made mistakes and you're in too deep,  
But now is the time."_

Dawn closed her eyes, feeling herself begin to sway with the music as she sang gently and let the music take over control of her body.

_"Alarm goes off but you feel too weak,  
Your soul's too heavy for your fear,  
But now is the time."_

A smile crept onto Dawn's face. As she sung the next line, she opened her eyes slowly in time with the lyrics and began to walk forwards, confidently putting one foot in front of the other.

_"Open your eyes,  
And know you're free to come alive,  
You've got to live it while you can,  
We only get one life._

Dawn raised her eyes upwards to the stars twinkling above in the night sky. As she walked she swayed with the beat and felt pure exhilaration channelling itself through her words, making the audience begin to move to the beat as well.

_"Look to the sky,  
Don't ever let it pass you by,  
You've got to live it while you can,  
We only get one life."_

Dawn lowered the microphone and took a deep breath, properly looking at the audience for the first time as she reached the end of the cat walk and turned round. She searched for her friends first, and then began connecting her eyes with new people in the audience who she had never met before. As she did this, one boy in particular caught her eye. It was hard to tell exactly what he looked like because of the lights onstage, but he had purple hair and held her gaze evenly as if unaffected by her singing.

_"You've lost your faith and a life that's cursed,  
You've cried so hard inside it hurts,  
But now's the time._

_"Outside the sun is coming up,  
Inside you think you've given up,  
But now's the time."_

Dawn didn't break eye contact with him the whole time she sang those two verses. She had glided almost unconsciously back up the catwalk and was now back on the main stage, about to begin the chorus once more. The boy's expression had changed while she was singing. As she looked at him now he wore a softer smile upon his face. But then she heard the music building up and she tore her eyes away from his, letting her gaze slide over the rest of the audience.

_"Open your eyes,  
And know you're free to come alive,  
You've got to live it while you can,_

_We only get one life._

_"Look to the sky,  
Don't ever let it pass you by,  
You've got to live it while you can_

_We only get one life._

_"One life..._

_It's time to stay up and fight,  
It's time for making it right."_

Feeling her eyes slide back to the purple-haired boy, Dawn began walking around the stage again, this time heading for the steps leading down into the audience. She hadn't planned to walk amongst the audience during this song, but the music had taken over and she was letting it lead her wherever it wanted her to go.

_"We only get one life,  
One life,  
One life,_

_And when it feels like a lie,  
I'll be your reason to try,_

_We only get one life."_

Dawn wandered through the audience dazzling them with her smile. They moved around her as she singled out different people, singing one line each just to them. Her head was filled with the lights and the beat of the music so she didn't even know what she was doing anymore; she was whirling around like a glittery tornado, having a brilliant time and enjoying every single moment.

Then she reached him. The boy with purple hair. She came to a stop in front of him, singing the next lines softly as if he was the only one listening.

_"Open your eyes,  
And know you're free to come alive,_

_You've got to live it while you can,  
We only get one life..."_

His eyes were a deep onyx colour and they stared right into her dark blue ones. She felt her breath catch a little and for a moment, it felt as though time had frozen and it was only the two of them staring right into each other's hearts.

The band once more began building up for the chorus and Dawn snapped out of it, blinking and stumbling away from the purple-haired boy. She noticed he looked just as startled as she did before she was pulled back in to the whirlwind of magic and music, climbing back onto the stage.

_"Look to the sky,  
Don't ever let it pass you by._

_"You've got to live it while you can,  
We only get one life._

_"One life."_

A huge grin decorated Dawn's face as she made her way centre stage. She opened her mouth wide and gave the penultimate verse all she had.

_"It's time to stay up and fight,  
It's time for making it right,_

_We only get one life,  
One life,  
One life."_

_"And when it feels like a lie,  
I'll be your reason to try,  
We only get one life..._

_"One life."_

Dawn finished, breathing hard. Her chest was heaving as she lowered her microphone, smiling out at the audience. For a few seconds she let them cheer and applaud her as she caught her breath, but her time on stage had not finished yet. As was traditional, she still had a short speech to give. Luckily she felt much more relaxed now and she was able to raise the microphone to her mouth with confidence.

"Hi guys!" she called, her eyes sparkling and her voice still slightly breathy from the performance. "Like my Uncle said, I'm Dawn, and I just wanted to thank you all for being such a great audience tonight, even though the night has only just begun. Since the camp director is my Uncle then he always expects me to give a speech after I officially start the camp, but I don't want to bore you so it'll be short, I promise! That song was called 'One Life' and I wrote it two years ago to perform the first time I opened Camp Sync. This is the third time I've performed it and I think it was the best performance yet. Hopefully this means the next six weeks of Camp Sync are the best six weeks you're ever going to have in your life! For those of you who haven't yet heard, the camp's motto is 'Let old friendships be strengthened and new friendships that last a lifetime be forged'. I know some of you will think that it's just a motto but trust me, it's much more than that. I know I've certainly made more friends here that I'm never going to forget than anywhere else! Thanks again, and good luck to the next performers – let's hear it for new singer, Misty Waterflower!" Dawn finished with an elated call, backing off the stage clapping as a girl with fiery orange hair stepped out from behind the curtain.

* * *

Back in her dressing room, Dawn could still feel the electric atmosphere rolling off the stage. She had taken off her dress and was in the process of removing her makeup as she thought over her performance. As she had told the audience, it truly had been the best performance she had ever given. She wondered if it was all because of that boy with the purple hair... She had felt a connection to him while she was singing and she was sure he felt it too.

"Dawn?" someone knocked on her door. Dawn jumped, startled out of her thoughts.

"I'll be out in a sec," Dawn called, hurriedly removing the rest of her makeup and making sure she was presentable in her usual outfit before stepping out of the dressing room.

Closing the door behind her, Dawn was surprised to find her best friend at Camp Sync, Ursula, waiting for her. "Ursula, hey," she smiled.

The peach-haired girl grinned back, pulling her into a hug. "Ohmygosh Dawn, that was absoloutly amazing!" she exclaimed.

"Shh," Dawn hushed her. There was a performance going on right now, and they had to be quiet or else the audience might be able to hear them. "But, thanks," she added. "It was good, wasn't it," she grinned, slightly more confident.

Ursula took Dawn's hand, leading her out of the makeshift building so they could re-join the audience like performers were supposed to do after they had finished their song.

"You looked absoloutly gorgeous – where in the world did you get that dress? And your singing was the best I've ever heard!" Ursula gushed as they slipped into the back of the audience.

Dawn shrugged. "I found it at the shopping centre on the other side of the river. I was so amazed to find it, because I thought it was just perfect," Dawn whispered back, pressing her mouth to Ursula's ear so they could be heard over the current singer, a boy with messy black hair. "Who's that singing now, anyway?"

Ursula glanced up at the stage. "I think his name's Ash, but whatever."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "We're supposed to be watching and listening," Dawn pointed out when there was a lull in the music.

"Yeah, but we'll get to meet everyone over breakfast tomorrow anyway and there'll be loads of other chances to see him sing," Ursula replied, raising her voice as the music got louder.

"True..." Dawn agreed as the music came to an end.

"Thanks guys!" The singer, Ash, called out enthusiastically over the applause he received. He left the stage and Dawn caught her breath when she saw the next singer taking the stage.

Beside her, Ursula gasped. "Ohmygosh, who is he? He's, like, soooo hot!" she exclaimed. Dawn nudged her friend, wishing she wasn't quite so loud, but she didn't take her eyes of the new singer.  
"I'm Paul Shinji, and I'm singing a song I wrote called 'Be My Escape'." It was the boy with the purple hair and the onyx eyes! Dawn let Ursula's chattering fade into the background as she stared at him. He was wearing baggy trousers and a dark blue jacket – the same clothes he was wearing earlier, Dawn noted. _He didn't change at all for the performance,_ she realised. Of course you didn't have to dress up, but most people did. Dressing up was part of the fun of it.

Camp Sync was quite a competitive camp as well as one that encouraged people to sing their hearts out; at the end of each week everyone had to give a performance of a song they had either chosen or written, and the three judges at the camp would decide how many points to give them based on their performance. At the end of the six weeks all the points were added up and they could give one final performance, with the people with the highest number of points performing last. The person with the most number of points at the end won the trophy, as Dawn had done for the past couple of years.

But then Paul began to sing, and every other thought vanished from Dawn's mind.

_"I've given up on giving up slowly,  
I'm blending in so you won't even know me,  
Apart from this whole world that shares my fate."_

Paul's hands were in his pockets since his microphone was on a stand. His voice was deep and gruff, and fairly rough to start with, but Dawn was entranced all the same. It held a raw depth of emotion that tugged at her heart.

_"This one last bullet you mention,  
Is my one last shot at redemption,  
Because I know to live you must give your life away._

_"And I've been housing all this doubt and insecurity,  
And I've been locked inside that house all the while you hold the key,  
And I've been dying to get out and that might be the death of me._

_"And even though there's no way in knowing,  
Where to go I promise I'm going because..."_

Paul took the microphone off its stand and began walking forwards as he sung the next bit. He kept walking, right to the end of the catwalk, and because Ursula and Dawn were right at the back of the audience it felt like he was walking straight towards them.

_"I gotta get outta here,  
I'm stuck inside this rut that I fell into by mistake,  
I gotta get outta here,  
And I'm begging you, I'm begging you, I'm begging you,  
To be my escape."_

Paul's eyes skimmed the crowd, not lingering on any one person. Next to Dawn, Ursula was babbling on about how hot he was and how she was going to go and find him after he finished singing to try and get to know him.

_"I'm giving up on doing this alone now,  
Cause I've failed and I'm ready to be shown how,  
He's told me the way and I'm trying to get there._

_"And this life sentence that I'm serving,  
I admit that I'm every bit deserving,  
But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair._

_"Cause I've been housing all this doubt and insecurity,  
And I've been locked inside that house all the while you hold the key,  
And I've been dying to get out and that might be the death of me._

_"And even though there's no way in knowing,  
Where to go I promise I'm going because..._

_"I gotta get outta here,  
Cause I'm afraid that this complacency is something I can't shake  
I gotta get outta here,  
And I'm begging you, I'm begging you, I'm begging you,  
To be my escape."_

Paul's eyes finally came to rest on Dawn. He was walking backwards now, towards the stage, but his eyes were fixed on hers.

_"I am a hostage to my own humanity,  
Self-detained and forced to live in this mess I've made,  
And all I'm asking is for you to do what you can with me,  
But I can't ask you to give what you already gave._

_"Cause I've been housing all this doubt and insecurity,  
And I've been locked inside that house all the while you hold the key,  
And I've been dying to get out, that might be the death of me._

_"And even though there's no way in knowing,  
Where to go I promise I'm going because..."_

Dawn felt like he was singing directly to her, even though she knew it was stupid. He didn't even know who she was. But there was something there in his eyes that made Dawn feel like she had known him all her life. Paul had settled into the song by now and his last notes were spot on, losing Dawn in the music.

_"I've gotta get outta here,  
I'm stuck inside this rut that I fell into by mistake,  
I've gotta get outta here,  
And I'm begging you, I'm begging you, I'm begging you,  
To be my escape._

_"I fought you for so long,  
I should have let you in,  
Oh how we regret those things we do._

_"And all I was trying to do,  
Was save my own skin,  
But so were you,  
So were you."_

Paul finished and clipped the microphone back onto its stand before walking offstage amid a huge applause which Ursula enthusiastically took part in. But Dawn was lost in her own world, thinking about the onyx-eyed boy with purple hair.

"And there we have it, girls and boys – Paul Shinji with 'Be My escape', the last performance of the night," the camp director announced, walking onstage. "Now there are refreshments if you'd like to head inside the lunch hall to your right and get to know each other a bit before heading off to your cabins. Now, since tonight is the first night, I want everyone in bed by two O' clock, but on regular nights midnight is curfew. Anyone found outside of their cabin after the curfew will be punished. And on that note, let's all head inside!"

Ursula grabbed Dawn's hand and began pulling her towards the lunch hall. "Come on! We have to find that purple-haired hottie," she squealed.

"Wha-what?" Dawn blinked. She must have been in her dressing room for ages if all the signers had already finished performing. Glancing at her Pokétch, she saw that it was just gone one. They had just under an hour before curfew.

* * *

"Dawn, you remember Melody, Brianna and Leticia, right?" Ursula had seen her other friends and dragged Dawn through the milling crowd towards them.

"Yeah, hi again," Dawn smiled at them. They had all met the previous year when Ursula had invited them to Camp Sync.

Melody grinned back. "Hey Dawn, it's awesome to see you again. You totally stole the stage tonight!"

Dawn shook her head, laughing. "I wasn't that great, but thanks anyway."

"No, you were totally the best female singer," Brianna complimented.

"Anyway," Ursula cut in. "I really want to go and find the hot guy who sang last, so I'll catch up with you all later, okay? We're all in the same cabin, luckily," she said before diving into the crowd.

Everyone was milling around inside the lunch hall (the tables were packed away and stacked round the edges apart from a few tables lining the room which were piled with food), and Dawn hadn't really had a chance to catch up with her thoughts yet.

"Oh, that's great," she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. The exhilaration from her performance, while still making her ears buzz, was beginning to die down a little now.

"Yeah, so, anyways, I also want to go and find someone," Melody said. "That really cool guy with black hair – he totally smiled at me while he was performing!"

Brianna laughed and shoved her. "Mel, Ash, like, smiled at everyone," she giggled. "But I'll come with you. Who knows, maybe I'll find my Drewy-babe," she added.

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Drewy-babe?"

"Yeah, he's so cool! I, like, melted when he began to sing," Brianna explained dramatically before she and Melody departed leaving Dawn with Leticia.

"So..." Dawn began awkwardly. "Anyone you want find?"

Leticia's eyes danced with amusement. "Nah, I'm good at the moment. Although, I wouldn't mind seeing that Gary guy again," she admitted. "Still, I'll probably meet him properly tomorrow. Hang on – there he is!" she gasped, pointing over Dawn's shoulder. Turning around, Dawn spotted a tall, handsome boy with spiky brown hair making his way through the crowd. "Do you mind?" Leticia checked. Dawn shook her head and Leticia shot off to confront Gary.

Left with no-one to talk to, Dawn wandered aimlessly through the crowd until a familiar voice called her name.

"Lucas!" Dawn exclaimed, turning around as a cute boy with short black hair and a red cap enveloped her in a hug. "Hey!"

Lucas pulled away, grinning, but his hands didn't leave her waist. "Dawn, it's so great to see you again," he greeted her. "Your performance was amazing!"

"Yeah, everyone keeps saying that," Dawn laughed. "Sorry I missed your song, that dress was hard to get off," she apologised.

Lucas' eyes twinkled. "I don't mind, that dress looked gorgeous on you so it was worth it." Dawn blushed and Lucas cleared his throat. "Anyway, have you seen the rest of the gang yet?" When Dawn shook her head Lucas let go of her waist and took her hand instead, leading her through the crowd.

The 'gang' consisted of her, Lucas, Rudy, Brendon, and Silver. In her first year at camp, when she was fifteen (the camp was for teenagers aged fifteen to eighteen – Dawn was seventeen and so in the third year), she had made firm friends with the four boys and Ursula, however the boys didn't get along with Ursula so she had to split her time evenly between them. The next year when Ursula had brought her other friends along Dawn had become good friends with them as well, so had to split her time between 'Lucas' group' and 'Ursula's group'. This year she was pretty sure the same thing was going to happen. Of course, she had other friends as well like Barry, Kenny, Zoey, Marina, Jimmy and pretty much all the other regular campers of every age, but she wasn't as close to any of them.

"Hey guys, look who I found," Lucas called out to three boys hovering near one of the refreshment tables.

"Dawn!" all three of them exclaimed. Dawn laughed as they all enveloped her in massive bear-hugs.

"Can't...breathe..." she gasped. After they let her go and had all complimented her earlier performance, they began chatting in general about the past year. Dawn stayed with them for about half an hour before finally excusing herself. She was feeling slightly lightheaded and so she slipped outside.

* * *

It was dark outside the lunch hall but the stars were still twinkling in the night sky above. Dawn had to creep around the back of the lunch hall to avoid being seen by the stagehands who were clearing up after the opening show – people weren't supposed to go out alone after dark, just in case some mad serial killer was lurking around.

Behind the lunch hall there was a stretch of green and the edge of the forest which bordered the camp, but it was too dark to see much. Dawn was just walking around, clearing her head after the excitement of the night, when she heard voices.

"So, you really think this will work?" a male voice asked.

"I'm positive," a second male voice replied. Dawn gasped silently. That sounded like her Uncle! But what was he doing out here at this time of night? She saw two figures walk briskly around the corner of the lunch hall and she stumbled backwards, towards the cabin closest to the lunch hall, to avoid being seen.

"When will you have the papers?" the first voice asked.

_Shoot,_ Dawn thought. They were still heading her way.

"They should be ready by the end of this week." Upon hearing his voice a second time, Dawn was fairly sure he was her Uncle.

Dawn was still backing away, until her back hit something hard, making her cry out in surprise. She quickly covered her mouth with a hand but it was too late.

"Did you hear that?" her Uncle asked his companion. Dawn stood up and looked around desperately for somewhere to hide. She didn't even want to think about the consequences if she was caught.

"I think it came from over there," the first man replied and they began making their way towards Dawn's hiding place. _Shoot, shoot, shoot!_ Dawn felt her way along the cabin until she found a window. It was hard to see much in the darkness but luckily for her when she pulled on the glass the window swung open. Without a second thought she reached her hands inside the cabin and jumped, pulling herself up with her hands until she was in a sitting position on the window ledge. In her panic she wasn't being careful and so she fell backwards, inside the cabin. With a sharp intake of breath she closed her eyes, waiting to hit the ground, but she never did.

Frowning slightly, she opened her eyes to see two onyx eyes staring back at her. "What in the-" the boy who had caught her began to exclaim. It barely registered in Dawn's head that this boy had just saved her a broken bone or two by catching her when she fell off the window ledge – instead she jumped out of his arms and pressed her hands tightly over his mouth. In her haste she used more force than she meant to and the boy, taken by surprise, stumbled backwards. He fell over, taking Dawn with him, and they both ended up sprawled on the floor. Or at least, the boy ended up sprawled on the floor – Dawn ended up sprawled awkwardly on top of him.

"Oww..." Dawn groaned.

"What-" the boy began again, but Dawn hurriedly placed her hands over his mouth again (but with much less force this time).

"Shhh!" she hissed.

For a moment there was nothing to be heard but silence. Then, Dawn heard her Uncle's voice again.

"There's no-one here. It was probably a Pachirisu or something," he said. "Come on, let's get back to the lunch hall; it's almost two O' clock, time to send those kids off to bed."

Dawn waited until she was sure they had left before finally removing her hands from the boy's mouth with a sigh of relief. "They're gone," she exhaled.

Suddenly she was dumped on the floor as the boy under her abruptly stood up. Dawn sat up with a small cry of surprise as the cabin light flickered on. Dawn blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light and she looked around. She was in a standard cabin, with six bunk beds (four to six people were always assigned to each cabin), a small toilet/wash room attached on the side and a sofa with a couple of chairs placed around the small fireplace. Then her gaze drifted over to the person standing by the light switch.

"What in the name of Arceus is going on?"

Dawn stared at the boy. He had purple hair, onyx eyes, and a thunderous expression. Even when he looked mad, he was still ruggedly handsome, Dawn noted. Although he seemed to have forgotten the moment they had shared when their eyes connected during her performance earlier. Unless he hadn't felt it at all, and it was all in her imagination...

"Well?" the boy folded his arms, glaring at her.

"Oh!" Dawn was jolted back to reality. "Umm... it's kind of a long story..." she began. "Hey, you're Paul, right? Paul Shinji?"

Paul nodded curtly. "I'm listening."

Dawn stood up, dusting herself off. "Oh, okay... Well, I felt a bit lightheaded after the show finished so after chatting to my friends for a bit I left the lunch hall to clear my head. I snuck round the back when I heard my Uncle approaching with some other guy and I panicked – we're not supposed to be outside after dark, you know, in case some mad serial killer is hanging around?" she tried to joke, but Paul was still glaring at her with that stormy look on his face. "Well, anyway," she coughed, "I found myself backing up against this cabin so I felt my way along it until I found a window – thank Arceus it was open – and I fell inside, and... well, you know the rest," she attempted a grin but it died away under Paul's cold glare.

"So you were hiding from your Uncle," Paul concluded.

Dawn nodded. "Yeah, that just about sums it up."

"So not such a long story after all," Paul pointed out. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to go to bed." He stalked past Dawn to his bunk and sat down.

Dawn hesitated. "What are you doing out here? Didn't you want to get to know anyone else?"

Paul ignored her.

"Or, are you hiding from someone too?" Dawn guessed. Paul looked up at her.

"Are you going to leave?" he growled.

Now that the angry look was gone from his face, Dawn felt her confidence return. "Not until you tell me what you're doing out here," she said stubbornly.

Paul gritted his teeth. "Fine. I'm hiding from a stupid girl with peach-coloured hair," he grunted.

"Ursula?" Dawn guessed. Paul just grunted again and pulled his bag out from under his bed.

"You know, Ursula isn't that bad," Dawn tried to strike up a conversation. "She just gets a little bit excited sometimes, that's all."

Paul pulled out his iPod and plugged in his headphones, turning up the volume so loud Dawn could hear it from where she was standing.

"Hey, I'm only trying to be friendly," she shouted at him. He took out one earphone.

"Well, don't," he snapped. "Go away, troublesome girl."

Dawn gaped at him. "I'm not troublesome!"

Paul gave her a _'yeah, right, and I don't have purple_ _hair'_ look.

"I'm not!" Dawn defended herself.

Paul sighed. "You break into my cabin and fall on top of me, then you tackle me to the ground because you're hiding from your Uncle, and now you're bothering me more than anyone else has in my entire life. You're troublesome," he stated.

Dawn was just trying to think of a good comeback when suddenly the cabin door banged open. She whirled around, squeaking with shock as a tall guy with spiky brown hair stood in the doorway, a smirk on his face.

"Well well well, what have we here? Paul breaking camp rules with a girl already?" he shook his head, tutting.

Dawn flushed. "I'm not... We're not..." she stammered, hardly noticing the cold night air that drifted in while the boy stood in the open door way.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Troublesome was just leaving," he said firmly, putting his earphone back in.

The boy with spiky brown hair strode in, followed by two other guys; one with green hair and the other with black hair. "The name's Gary," he introduced himself, bowing slightly. "And these are Ash and Drew."

Dawn stared at them. "Hi," she said.

"Now, care to tell us what you were doing with Paul in our cabin?" Gary smirked as Dawn wriggled uncomfortably.

Dawn was trying to think of what to tell them when Paul suddenly stood up. "She was hiding from her Uncle. Now she's leaving," he growled, dropping his iPod back on his bed.

"So soon? But you only just got here," the boy with messy black hair complained. "I'm Ash Ketchum by the way," he added with a grin.

Dawn smiled back. "Hi Ash – oh, hey, did you talk to a girl called Melody earlier?"

Ash lifted his eyes to the roof of the cabin as he thought. "Umm... Yeah!" he exclaimed suddenly. Gary wacked him over the head. "Sorry," Ash muttered sheepishly as Dawn gave him a bemused look. "But, yeah, I think so. Why?"

Dawn shrugged. "No reason. She's one of my friends and told me she was looking to congratulate you on your performance or something," she explained, deciding not to use Melody's actual words.

"Oh," Ash nodded.

Dawn squeaked as someone suddenly began to push her towards the door. "Hey!" she turned around to see Paul with a determined look on his face.

"I told you to leave," Paul glared at her.

Gary, who had just been unpacking his suitcase, stepped between them, holding up his hands. "Whoa, no need for a fight," he joked. "Down, Paul," he said, talking to the purple-haired teenager like he was a naughty puppy. To Dawn he added, "Don't listen to him, he's always this grumpy. You'll get used to it."

Dawn glanced at Paul whose glare was now fixed on Gary. "No need to worry, my friend Ursula is way worse in the mornings," she laughed.

Paul rolled his eyes as went back to his bed.

Suddenly something landed on Dawn's head, and she screamed in surprise. "What in Arceus?" She reached up and took a piece of clothing off her head. Upon closer inspection, she realised it was a shirt. A _smelly_ shirt. "Eww," she gagged. Gary laughed and withdrew back towards his bunk. She thought she heard him say 'good one', but she ignored him, her eyes sweeping the room for the culprit.

Someone sniggered from behind her and she twisted round to face the handsome teenager with green hair whom she hadn't properly met yet. _He must be Drew,_ she thought. "Is this yours?" she growled threateningly, stalking over to him. He was leaning against his bed with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"No," Drew told her. "If you want someone to blame, look over there," he pointed to the third bunk where Ash was rummaging around in his suitcase. _With no shirt on._

"Ash!" Dawn yelled angrily.

Ash froze. Slowly he withdrew from his suitcase and turned around to face her, a Buneary-in-the-headlights look on his face. "Y-yes Dawn?" he asked innocently.

Dawn narrowed her eyes. "Did you throw this?" she asked menacingly, advancing upon him with the shirt held away from her body.

"Uh... never seen it before in my life," Ash tried a lopsided grin, but Dawn didn't buy it.

"So where's your shirt then, clever-clogs?" Dawn hissed, prodding his bare chest but keeping her eyes on his face.

Ash gulped.

"Give it up Ash, you know you've been caught," Gary chuckled from behind them. Ash sighed.

"Sorry Dawn, I didn't mean to throw it at you. I was looking for my toothbrush," Ash apologised. He stared up at her with such a puppy-dog expression in his eyes that she couldn't do anything but sigh and chick his shirt back on his bed.

"No need to worry," she told him.

"Well, that was a quick mood change," Drew remarked. Once more Dawn whirled around to face him, but instead of getting mad she just grinned.

"You'll get used to it," she smiled.

"Hey! You stole my words," Gary protested.

Before Dawn could reply, there came a knock at the door. Everyone froze.

"Hello?" Gary called out cautiously.

"It's Peter," came the muffled reply from the other side of the door. Dawn's eyes widened. "I'm just coming in to check you're all obeying the curfew," he explained.

Dawn glanced around for somewhere to hide. "It's my Uncle!" she gasped under her breath.

Thinking quickly, Drew grabbed her and pulled her over to the wash room. He quickly shoved her inside and closed the door, just in time as Dawn's Uncle then pushed open the door and walked into the boy's cabin.

"Good to see you're all here," Dawn heard him say. She waited, pressing herself against the closed wash room door, with trembling hands. He might be her Uncle, but she knew he wouldn't go easy on her if she was caught. Especially if she was caught in the boy's cabin.

"If you don't mind, I just need to do a quick room check," Peter continued. Dawn heard some shuffling and then someone else spoke up.

"Could you do it tomorrow? Some of us are trying to sleep." Dawn smiled slightly as she recognised Paul's gruff voice.

"Sorry... Paul, wasn't it? Sorry Paul, but one year we caught a girl hiding in her boyfriends cabin after midnight so now we make sure to do a brief check of the rooms every night to make sure it doesn't happen again," Peter told him. Dawn closed her eyes as she heard her Uncle stride over to the wash room.

"Like any of us have girlfriends, we only just arrived," Drew pointed out hurriedly, but it didn't stop Dawn's Uncle from turning the door handle on the wash room.

Dawn recoiled, her heart beating wildly. She was going to get caught. She knew it.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Wow, that has to be the longest chapter I've ever written! Not every chapter will be that long, I'm sure. Anyway, the other girls (Misty, May and Leaf) will appear next chapter. I just thought it might be interesting if they didn't all start off as friends, but rather they become friends as the story progresses. The plot will start properly next chapter, and stay tuned if you want to find out what happens to Dawn! Will her Uncle catch her? Will she be grounded for the rest of Camp?

So, what did you think? Please review! The more reviews I get the faster I'll update ;)


	2. Rocky Beginnings

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokemon.

I am so, so sorry that this is so late. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed last chapter but I don't blame you if you gave up on this story because this update took so long.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**~ Rocky Beginnings ~**

When Leaf Green woke up the next morning, she made a promise to herself that this summer would be the best one she had ever had. She lay in her bed while the sun seeped in at the window and she whispered, "This summer will be all about making new friendships and having a good time. Maybe during the next six weeks I can finally forget him," to herself. Then she jumped out of bed and hurriedly showered in the wash room at the back before getting dressed. Then she emerged back into the main part of the log cabin and looked around. A girl with red hair was sitting on her bed reading and another girl with blue hair was texting on her phone, but as soon as they heard her come into the room they both looked up.

"Hey Leaf," the blue-haired girl smiled, jumping down from her top bunk.

Leaf smiled back uncertainly. "Hi...?"

"I'm Marina; we met last night but I think you were half asleep," the girl laughed.

"Oh, yeah, sorry; I remember now! And you're Misty, right?" Leaf turned to the other girl.

"That's me," Misty grinned back.

Once they were all dressed Marina, who had been to the camp before, led them over to the cafeteria.

"Breakfast is from eight until nine, when we have a group meeting over at the main stage where all the performances were last night," Marina was explaining as she pushed open the wooden door and led them inside. The cafeteria looked a lot different to how it looked the previous night. It was a large room with a kitchen at the back and tables where breakfast had been set out (cereal, toast, jam, marmalade etc.) for people to choose what they wanted, with jugs of milk, water and juice on each separate table that were dotted around the room for the campers to eat at. The tables were circular and each could fit roughly eight campers around it, Leaf noticed.

"Come on, let's get some breakfast," Misty said, heading towards the breakfast tables at the back. Leaf followed her, suppressing a grin. Unlike Leaf, Misty seemed like the kind of girl who dived straight in rather than wait around longer than necessary. At least, that was the impression Leaf had got from the redhead earlier when they were chatting and getting to know each other while Marina was in the shower.

Leaf had just picked up a piece of toast and marmalade when someone called Marina's name. All three girls looked round to see a boy with black hair and a backwards yellow-and-black cap on his head on the other side of the room.

"Hey, Marina - over here!" he called again, waving his arms.

Marina giggled. "Okay, we're coming!" she called back over the general noise created by the other chattering campers. She turned back to Leaf and Misty, the latter who had a knowing smirk on her face.

"So I'm guessing that must be Jimmy," Misty commented as they made their way over.

Marina glanced at her. "Yeah – how did you know?" she asked in surprise.

"You were talking to yourself as you were texting him this morning while waiting for Leaf to be done in the shower," Misty reminded her.

Marina blushed slightly. "Yeah, you're right, that's Jimmy," she mumbled, walking faster.

Misty laughed. "She so likes him," she muttered to Leaf.

Leaf nodded. "Yeah, she..." she tailed off as they reached the table Jimmy was sitting at. He was with four other boys, two of whom Leaf didn't know but two who she knew very well indeed.

Misty placed her tray on the table next to Marina. "You want to sit down?" Misty asked Leaf, but the brunette was too busy staring at a boy with brown spiky hair.

"I... Gary? Ash?" Leaf gasped, dropping her tray onto the table. Both boys, who had been engaged in a conversation with a green-haired boy, glanced up at her when they heard their names.

"Leaf!" Ash exclaimed, standing up. A grin broke out on Leaf's face as she flew around the table and enveloped the raven-haired boy in a hug.

"Ash, how come you're here? I thought you were still in Sinnoh," she said, hugging him tightly.

"Mmmph, mph mpph mmmmph!" Ash mumbled.

"Leafy, let the poor guy breathe," a cocky voice interrupted. Leaf let go of Ash abruptly, but ignored the boy who had spoken.

"Sorry, I'm just so happy to see you again," Leaf apologised sheepishly.

Ash grinned. "Yeah, it's great to see you too! I didn't actually know I'd be coming until Gary appeared out of nowhere and asked if I'd like to come along here with him, Drew and Paul," he explained, pointing at each boy in turn.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" Marina broke in, puzzled. "How come?"

"Ash has been my best friend since we were born," Leaf explained, taking her seat between Misty and a boy with purple hair who she assumed to be Paul from Ash's brief introductions. "We lived next door to each other in Pallet Town, Kanto," she told everyone.

"Hey, I was your best friend too," the boy with brown spiky hair complained, kicking his feet up on the table after pushing his empty plate away. "You lived next to me as well Leafy."

Finally Leaf could avoid him no longer. She met his careful gaze with a fierce stare. "Don't call me that."

Gary frowned. "You never used to mind."

"Key words – used to. Times have changed," Leaf shot back.

Misty looked between Leaf and Gary curiously. Feeling the tension rising, she cleared her throat. "Uh, I don't think I've met all of you yet. My name's Misty Waterflower, and I'm from Kanto," she introduced herself.

Catching on, Jimmy was the next to speak. "Hi, I'm Jimmy! And as Ash just said, these are Drew, Paul and Gary. I take it that's Leaf?" he nodded towards the brunette.

"Yeah," Misty nodded. Leaf was now quietly eating her toast and Gary was watching her with a strange expression on his face. "How do you and Marina know each other?"

Jimmy glanced over at the blue-haired teenager and smiled. "We've been friends since we met at Camp Sync when we were fifteen," he replied.

Leaf was only listening to their conversation with half an ear. She was trying to ignore Gary but his staring at her made it very hard. She had tried so hard to forget him, it wasn't fair that he was here now. She wanted a drama-free summer and with Gary around, she doubted that was going to happen.

"Aren't there supposed to be four of you?" Ash sliced through her thoughts, startling her so much that she had to suppress a laugh.

Leaf looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Drew said it was four to six campers to a cabin but there are only three of you girls," Ash reasoned.

The green-haired boy, Drew, appraised Ash with a cool glance. "Ash, the girls aren't attached at the hip," he pointed out. Looking up at Leaf, he added, "Was he always this stupid?" Hearing the teasing note in his voice, Leaf nodded.

"Oh yes," she replied, her eyes twinkling.

"Hey! I'm right here you know," Ash spoke up indignantly.

Leaf hesitated when a sudden thought occurred to her. "But... actually, for once Ash has a point. When I woke up there was no sign of the fourth girl in our cabin. I mean, four beds had been slept in but only three, including mine, were occupied. I guess our fourth cabinmate must have got up earlier. Maybe she's here somewhere?" Leaf looked around the room, but no-one stood out to her.

"Was her name Dawn?" the boy with purple hair spoke up suddenly, making Leaf jump.

"Oh... no, I think her name was May. Why?"

Paul grunted. "No reason."

Drew smirked, standing up. "Paul has a crush on-"

"Shut up if you want to live longer than a few more seconds," Paul snapped.

Drew's smirk just widened. "Anyways, I'm off to practise my guitar solo. See you all later," he said, walking off.

Leaf stared after him. "But he'll miss the nine O' clock meeting," she said.

Ash shrugged. "Drew's relying on Gary to take notes for him."

"Then he obviously hasn't known Spike long. Spike hasn't taken a single note in his life," she snorted. Gary winced when he heard the nickname, but tried to appear unbothered by it.

Ash looked at Leaf sadly. He understood why she was acting like this but he wished she and Gary would just make up. He had missed spending time with both of his best friends in the past couple of years, and he hoped this summer would bring them back together.

* * *

May Maple was lost. She had woken up with the sun (at around five thirty) and none of her new cabinmates were awake yet so she had taken her guitar and gone for a walk in the nearby forest, hoping for some inspiration for a new song.

As she wandered throughout the tall, still fairly dark trees she cast her eyes around for the river. She had tried following it through the forest because it wound around the camp and looked like it went straights through the forest but, somehow, she had lost it.

"This is great," she grumbled to herself, passing by a pine tree. "The first time I've ever woken up early enough to see a sunrise, and I'm missing it because the trees are blocking my view."

Just when she was about to give up, she stumbled across the most amazing sight she had ever seen. She had come out on the edge of a sparkling lake where the sunrise was visible above the treetops, turning the water a beautiful golden-pink colour. It wasn't a large lake – she could just see the other side of it if she looked hard enough – and trees surrounded it on every side. She realised she must be in the very middle of the forest and to get back to camp all she had to do was follow the river.

But she had no intention of going back to camp just yet. Instead, she found a tree stump and sat down, resting her guitar on her lap. It was a simple wood instrument and yet it was one of her most precious possessions. It was nothing special to look at, but her grandmother had given it to her before she passed away and May now treasured it, making sure to always treat it well. She had sung some of her best songs on that guitar.

May warmed up with a few scales and then launched into a song she had written a few years back, the words relaxing her and letting her enjoy the beauty of her surroundings.

She had been there for so long lost in her own little world that she hardly noticed the time go by and before she knew it the sun had risen above the tree tops.

"Please tell me you're not planning to sing that song in the Sync Show at the end of the week," a disdainful voice broke into the singing, shattering her quiet little bubble and making her jump in surprise and drop her guitar. Luckily a hand shot out of nowhere and caught it. Looking up, May saw a teenage boy around her age with startling green hair and even more startling green eyes.

May narrowed her eyes at him. "So what if I am? And how do you know I'm from Camp Sync?" she shot back, her temper easily aroused.

The boy held out her guitar and she snatched it back, still glaring at him. "You're a singer with a guitar in the middle of the forest right next to where camp Sync is based. Where else are you going to be from?"

May wrinkled her nose. He had a point. "If you think you're so clever, then let's hear you sing," she snapped, catching sight of the guitar he held in his own hands. It was simple like hers but had a glossy shine to it whereas May's was faded and less showy.

The boy flicked his hair and took a seat on a log opposite her. "Why should I waste my voice on you?"

May was getting really riled up now. Who did he think he was to insult her like that? "Guess you must be really bad if you don't want to sing in front of me," she retorted. "Who are you, anyway?"

"The name's Drew Hayden, and I'm guessing you must be April Maple," he replied, not looking bothered in the least by her angry tone.

May gritted her teeth. "My name is May."

"Whatever June," Drew flicked his hair again.

"I give up. You're obviously too dumb to understand anything anyway, just like you're too scared to sing because your voice is really bad," May told him, pleased with her comeback.

Drew settled his guitar on his lap and then glanced up at her. "Did no-one ever tell you not to judge a singer before they've sung? I'll have you eating your words," he replied.

May frowned. "What...?"

Drew sighed. "Do you know the song Skyscraper?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" May was really confused now.

Drew suddenly began strumming the tune of Skyscraper on his guitar and May listened hesitantly as he began to sing.

_ "Skies are crying,  
I am watching,  
Catching teardrops in my hands,  
Only silence as it's ending, like we never had a chance,  
Do you have to, make me feel like there is nothing left of me?"_

May was shocked to say the least. He was good. Like,_ really_ good. But she was determined to prove that she was better than him so she picked up the tune on her own guitar and took over from Drew, singing the next verse while he stared at her in surprise.

_"You can take everything I have,  
You can break everything I am,  
Like I'm made of glass,  
Like I'm made of paper,  
Go on and try to tear me down,  
I will be rising from the ground,  
Like a skyscraper...  
Like a skyscraper."_

May held the last note, looking into Drew's eyes. The surprise had vanished from his gaze and was replaced with interest as he began to strum his guitar again, beginning to sing once more.

_"As the smoke clears,_

_I awaken, and untangle you from me..."_

May began to smile as she joined in with the first parts of the next two sentences, but she left the last parts to him.

_"Would it make you, feel better to watch me while I bleed?_

_All my windows, still are broken,  
But I'm standing on my feet."_

Now May took over once more as the other teenager fell quiet.

_"You can take everything I have,  
You can break everything I am._

_"Like I'm made of glass,  
Like I'm made of paper..."_

As they sang together May found they harmonised perfectly, their voices fitting together like they had been singing together for years.

_"Go on and try to tear me down,  
I will be rising from the ground,  
Like a skyscraper.  
Like a skyscraper."_

May fell silent, letting the Drew have the next three lines for a solo before taking the following three for a solo herself. A brisk wind had sprung up and began tugging at her hair but she hardly noticed, she was so lost in the music.

_"Go run, run, run,  
I'm gonna stay right here,  
And watch you disappear, yeah._

_"Go run, run, run,  
Yeah it's a long way down,  
But I am closer to the clouds up here."_

May glanced down as he took over, feeling herself get lost in his voice. It was rich and full of emotion, but when she looked up again she saw a genuine smile on his face in place of his earlier smirk.

_"You can take everything I have,  
You can break everything I am,  
Like I'm made of glass,  
Like I'm made of paper..."_

May's eyes began to shine as she rose to her feet, Drew moving in complete synchronisation with her. She opened her mouth wide for the last part of the song, pure joy in the song filling her voice.

_"Go on and try to tear me down,  
I will be rising from the ground..._

_"Like a skyscraper,  
Like a skyscraper._

"Like a skyscraper...  
Like a skyscraper."

For a moment after the song finished, May stood frozen to the spot, gazing into

Drew's emerald eyes. Then she shook herself, tearing her eyes from his. "You know, you're actually not bad," she said.

The smile on Drew's face once more morphed into a smirk. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. You're much worse," May grinned, giggling at the expression on his face.

"Just remember June, that however 'bad' my voice is, yours is ten times worse," Drew told her.

May rolled her eyes. The song had returned her good mood and she brushed off his teasing. "You keep telling yourself that." Suddenly a thought occurred to her and she frowned at Drew. "Hey, why did you come out here in the first place? And how did you find me?"

Drew shrugged. "Your friends; Misty, Leaf and Marina were wondering where you were since apparently you had already left the cabin before they woke up. I had some time to kill so I wandered into the forest looking for inspiration for my guitar solo when I heard your horrible voice wrecking any chance I had of finding inspiration. After that I followed your screeching back to its source," he told her, watching her expression turn to one of anger with an amused twinkle in his eye.

May felt her temper return. "We'll see who's voice is horrible at the Sync Show at the end of this week," she retorted. "And it's not going to be mine." With that, she whirled around and began to stride off down the lakeside.

"April," Drew said, but May ignored him. "June," he tried again. Still, May kept on walking. "July? August? February? January?"

May smiled slightly. She was determined not to answer him until he called her by her name.

"Er, what other months are there?" Drew wondered. Meanwhile May was getting further and further away from him. "Oh, that's right: March, October, November, September! Are you going to answer me?" he called after her retreating figure.

May itched to look behind her but she steeled herself. "Nope," she called back.

"You just did," Drew pointed out, raising his voice so she could hear him.

_Shoot, he's right,_ May pinched herself and yelped. _Okay, not doing that again. It hurts too much._

"Fine, what do you want?" May shouted. She had almost reached the trees where the lake narrowed into a river once more but she didn't stop. Drew yelled something after her but she couldn't make out his words. "I can't hear you, you'll have to come closer," she called back to him, subconsciously fiddling with her guitar pick as she attached the instrument's strap and slung it carefully over her shoulder.

"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?" Drew suddenly shouted in her ear. May jumped and leaped away from him, tripping over a root and falling into a bush, not noticing that she dropped the pick in her shock.

"Sheesh, don't do that!" May yelled at him, trying to climb out of the bush but failing brilliantly.

Above her Drew stood with a growing smirk. "Would you like some help?" he offered in a superior tone.

May glared at him. "No. Ow," she muttered as thorns tore at her clothes and scratched her skin in the process. Her limbs flailed uselessly as she continued fighting the bush.

Drew laughed."Are you sure about that?"

"Shut up. What did you want to tell me so bad anyway?" May grumbled.

"Oh, just that you were going the wrong way. Camp is that way," Drew informed her, sticking his thumb over his shoulder.

May groaned and stopped struggling, lying still in the bush. "Oh, go and get lost in the forest," she muttered.

Drew raised an eyebrow. "How are you going to get out of there if I 'go and get lost in the forest'?" he quoted, making his voice go high.

May shuffled around, gritting her teeth as the bush poked her several times. "Like this. Blaziken, help me out here," she called, throwing up a pokéball. Her Blaziken emerged and Drew stared at it in surprise.

"Wow November, how did _you_ get a Blaziken?"

May smirked as the fire pokémon lifted her out of the bush and set her on the ground. "Through a lot of hard work; a concept I'm sure id foreign to you. Where do you come from, anyway? Johto?"

"Actually, I'm from Hoenn," Drew replied, looking at Blaziken with a frown as the pokémon sniggered. "What?" He glanced at May who had a startled expression on her face. "What?"

"N-nothing," May shook herself. "I'm going back to camp, come on Blaziken." She turned and began to walk back towards the lake with her Blaziken following her.

* * *

"... I would like to introduce Elizabeth, Joel, Nancy and Tom – they will be leading the camp activities this year. Joel is the first years' leader, Nancy has the second years, Elizabeth is assigned to the third years and Tom's leading the fourth years. As camp director, I will oversee all the activities and if anyone has any problems then please feel free to come to me or your camp advisor about them. And now, I'll leave you with your assigned leader. See you all later," Peter finished his welcome speech and stepped off the stage as four young adults in their early twenties took his place.

"Okay, as Peter said I'm Elizabeth. Please could the third years head over to the boat house and we'll get started!" a slim woman with red hair and an energetic personality called, jumping off the stage. The third years separated from the group gathered around the stage and followed her off to the side of the camp by the river while the other camp leaders began to take control of their respective year groups.

"Great, we're starting out with canoeing?" Rudy grinned, fist pumping. "Brilliant!"

Dawn laughed at him. "Yeah, guess who you have to thank for this activity," she said. Rudy turned to her in surprise.

"Seriously? You got us canoeing as the first activity? Awesome, thanks Dawn," he gave her a one-armed hug before tearing off down to the riverside with Brendon.

Dawn watched him, shaking her head. "He has way too much energy."

"Dawn! Dawn, there you are," Ursula barged through the crowd of seventeen year olds following Elizabeth until she was walking with her best friend. "I've been looking everywhere for you! Where were you last night?"

"Huh?" Dawn stared at her. "Oh, um..." she hesitated. "I... er, I fancied some fresh air so I went for a walk, that's all," she stammered. Part of her wanted to tell Ursula the truth, but something inside her told her it would be a bad idea. Sighing, Dawn remembered what had really happened last night…

* * *

_"Like any of us have girlfriends, we only just arrived," Drew pointed out hurriedly, but it didn't stop Dawn's Uncle from turning the door handle on the wash room._

_Dawn recoiled, her heart beating wildly. She was going to get caught. She knew it._

_Suddenly however there was a scuffle on the other side of the door. Dawn froze as the door opened but the person who slipped inside was not Peter, her Uncle, but instead a purple haired teenager._

_"Paul?" Dawn gasped. "What are you doing?" she asked in a whisper._

_Paul just raised a finger to his lips and turned on the cold tap so that water was trickling slowly down the sink. "Quick, out the window," he whispered to her._

_"I don't understand," Dawn frowned, not moving._

_Paul rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything Peter called to Paul from the other side of the door. "I don't wish to hurry you, but I do have other cabins to check."_

_"The go check them," Paul grunted back. "I might be a while."_

_Dawn's eyes widened in realisation. So Paul had pretended to need the loo and had got into the wash room before her Uncle had been able to look inside._

_"You have to leave," Paul told Dawn once more. "He'll check your cabin soon," he added pointedly, "and if you're not there then I won't be able to help you."_

_"Thanks," Dawn breathed and didn't hesitate, this time opening the wash room window and climbing out. She dropped to the floor the other side and then made her escape while Paul kept Peter busy. If Paul hadn't been so quick to act, she would have been grounded for sure._

* * *

"Oh, okay. Must have been a pretty long walk," Ursula giggled, accepting her excuse. "Come on, we have to make sure we're on the same team as Paul – you remember Paul Shinji from last night, right? Oh, he's just so handsome and there was so much chemistry between us when we were talking last night. It's such a shame he left early, but hopefully today I'll be able to get to know him even better and…"

Dawn looked away as Ursula babbled in her ear. The bad feeling in her stomach worsened as her peach haired best friend spoke freely about her crush on Paul. Dawn found herself subconsciously searching for his purple hair and when she found it she let her eyes linger on him as he stood off to the side, slightly detached from the crowd, with his hands in his pockets and a frown on his face. She sighed longingly as she stared at him, but then she caught herself and forced herself to tear her eyes away. She couldn't fall for him, not when her best friend was so keen on him. Nothing could come between their friendship, especially not a boy. So Dawn took a step back and forced herself to listen to Ursula, pushing all thoughts of Paul to the back of her mind.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hmm, I wonder what was up with Leaf...? If you review you might find out!

I was going to leave the May & Drew part out because it doesn't really do much for the storyline and I didn't know if it was too cliche or not, but I really liked it so I left it in. Please let me know what you thought of it!

Thanks,

~ Jay.


End file.
